Good Things

The kids and I have been sick on and off for a week.  The benefit of homeschooling is that you don't have to stress about missing tests and important lessons... and you can do the work you can do, like read or watch documentaries, etc.  The drawback is that when the teacher is sick (me) you can't call in a sub. 

Needless to say, today with my sinuses sore, my ears achy, and my chest raspy... the kids watched a history video this morning and practiced their instruments.  Math will be done when dad gets home.  This afternoon will probably consist of journaling (for both kids), reading, scrapbooking (Kayden), and rehearsing their choir song.  I just don't think I can dig into new lessons or science experiments or field trips.  Not today.

After reading through some of my older posts, I realize that I often give my readers here a heavy dose of the negatives of homeschooling.  I do that for two reasons.  One, this is my purge.  It's like a diary.  I am able to work through my issues here in words, get advice from my friends and family, and move through the tough things.  As I said earlier, it's like my meditation.  Two, there aren't many blogs or articles that talk about the tough, personal issues about home schooling.  Probably because we're all so eager to prove ourselves! We want to continually extol the virtues of our alternative life choice!

 Or maybe it really is that easy and rewarding for everyone else.  Hmmm.

Anyway, to lighten the mood and extol my virtues, here a few cool things we've been working on:

• We have been given music a greater emphasis (MIN. 30 minutes guitar practice for Asher)  Yeah, go Tiger Mama! LOL!  Cady has taken up violin, and is very excited!  I practice my acoustic guitar daily as well.  Monkey see, monkey do!
• Asher is learning all about Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak and the Apple, Inc. legacy!  Time line due Friday.  Paper about how they changed the way we learn and communicate, due next Friday!
• Cady is learning all about dogs, breeding, care, etc.  We watched a cool video about "manufacturing" various breeds for various jobs.
• Cady grew an Amaryllis and studied plants and flowers.  She kept a journal and we dissected the blossom yesterday.  The thing is HUGE!  (Feed me Seymore!)
• Asher is learning all about Ancient Mythology at co-op.  Yesterday he made a cool comic strip for their ancient newspaper.
• Cady and I are reading "Anne of Green Gables."  I think "Tom Sawyer" will be our next family read.
• We all started daily journaling.  Asher needs to fine tune his writing skills, and gain confidence in that arena.
• Both kids are doing a ton of baking and cooking.  Asher claims he wants to be a pastry chef!
• Both kids are learning Spanish!  I'm having fun brushing up on my Spanish skills myself!
• Asher is learning a ton about the war in Afghanistan.  Both kids helped design and deliver a service for our church around "Pennies for Peace," an organization that brings education to children in the Middle East.  www.penniesforpeace.org. They have a great curriculum that we will probably use for our summer youth program.  I'm surprised how knowledgeable Asher became on this subject, and how eager he was to learn about it.  We are sending a bunch of stuffed animals to the troops there soon.  Apparently they trade the animals to Afghan children for information about IED locations.  So an animal could save a life! 
• We are utilizing Junior Scholastic for American history and current events!  It's an AWESOME resource, complete with quizzes and discussion questions.
• Oh, and here's a really important one:  Asher's colon disorder is nearly a non-issue!!!!  YEAH! Most of you know, that was a big reason we home schooled this year.  I think a reduction in stress really helped "cure" this problem.  Now I feel confident that if he decides to go back to school next year, he will not be the target of bullying due to his disorder.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Okay, now that I've purged our accomplishments, I feel better about taking a somewhat lazy day.  However, I bet at the end of the day I will realize that we learned a ton despite the low energy!

Oh, on a side note... has anyone read "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother?"  I've read no less than three articles about it, but haven't yet read the book.  Any feedback?